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Mandurah goes hi-tech to save water and money

THE City of Mandurah is the first local government in WA to take advantage of an Internet of Things device to monitor water flow in real time.

The Internet of Things is the network of physical devices, vehicles, home appliances and other items embedded with electronics, software, sensors, actuators and connectivity which connects these things to the Internet.

In simple terms, the City has connected meters to the water supply of some key facilities.

The metres monitor the flow of water and if something unusual happens, a message is sent by SMS to a council worker who can fix the problem quickly.

City chief executive Mark Newman said the technology had the potential to save a lot of money.

“Not long ago, we discovered some major leaks but by the time they were discovered they had cost us significant sums of money,’’ he said.

“The meters mean we can react to water leaks and abnormal water consumption as soon as it happens instead of having to wait for the next utilities bill to discover an issue.

“This project also aligns perfectly with our Waterwise council program in improving water use efficiency within council facilities and the community and also has a direct benefit to the council in reducing water usage costs.

“It is relatively low cost and we are looking at rolling it out to more facilities across Mandurah.”

Mr Newman said another advantage was that the council could use submeters, which allowed accurate measurement of water use, particularly for users of a shared system and had the potential to reduce costs for come community groups.